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Gold was discovered at Congress in 1884. By 1893, the Santa Fe, Prescott and Phoenix Railway passed within three miles of the mine, at Congress Junction. Congress boomed, and remained prosperous until the mid-1930s, when the mines closed. Total gold production at the Congress Mine exceeded $8 million, at the then-current price of $20.67 per ounce—or about $400 million, at the 2007 price.[1]

The post office moved to Congress Junction in 1938, where it remains. The community now known as Congress is the old Congress Junction. Little remains at the original townsite.[2]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 37.7 square miles (98 km2), of which, 37.6 square miles (97 km2) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km2) of it (0.08%) is water.

As of the census[5] of 2000, there were 1,717 people, 821 households, and 579 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 45.6 people per square mile (17.6/km²). There were 1,070 housing units at an average density of 28.4 per square mile (11.0/km²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 95.92% White, 0.52% Native American, 0.06% Asian, 1.81% from other races, and 1.69% from two or more races. 7.98% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 821 households out of which 12.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.5% were married couples living together, 4.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.4% were non-families. 24.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.09 and the average family size was 2.43.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 13.3% under the age of 18, 3.6% from 18 to 24, 13.3% from 25 to 44, 32.1% from 45 to 64, and 37.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 60 years. For every 100 females there were 100.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.6 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $27,868, and the median income for a family was $32,250. Males had a median income of $25,588 versus $19,000 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $15,926. About 10.0% of families and 12.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.8% of those under age 18 and 10.6% of those age 65 or over.